ILLUSTRADO Magazine Aug 2014

PHOTOGRAPHY by EROS GOZE

EDITOR’S NOTE

Listen to the Children

“Huwag sumali sa usapang matatanda.” [Don’t get involved

having 15 year old Philo T. Fransworth’s invention, or the

in adult conversation.] Most of us would have heard that

Braille reading system for the blind invented by Louis Braille

from the adults in our families, growing up in the Philippines.

in his teen years? Certainly, history wouldn’t be the same

Back home, most kids are discouraged to participate in

without Joan of Arc, Anne Frank, and recently Nobel Peace

anything considered as adult undertaking. Utter a word

Prize nominee - Malala Yousafzai.

and be labelled a pest. Speak your mind and it’s considered disrespectful. As children who belong to conservative and more traditional families, not only in the homeland but in other parts of the world, “do as you are told” seems to be the one overarching commandment. Even today, it would seem, that the saying “children should only be seen, not heard” is still subscribed to by many a parents.

A couple of years ago, there was an eight year old boy in the Philippines who fell in love with figure skating when he saw an ice rink at the mall. He told his mother that he would like to be a competitive skater and compete in the Olympics one day. Good thing, his parent did not scoff at his childish wish, though the idea of a figure skater from tropical Philippines sounds preposterous. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have the

Which brings me to the question - aren’t we missing a

first Filipino to compete in the Winter Olympics – Michael

lot when our young ones are not heard? Forget about

Christian Martinez.

teen angst, growing up pains and other domestic issues, but children present an amazing wellspring of ideas and enthusiasm that is more than worth adult consideration.

Nobody can match the sense of wonderment, curiosity, perhaps even the creativity of a child who is not hindered

Unfettered imagination, hopefulness and a sense of fun and optimism notwithstanding physical or psychological obstacles are the things where children do so much better than adults.

by typical “adult” limitations – e.g. “I could fail.” Or, “It’s not

And it is precisely for this reason that we should listen –

going to serve any real purpose.” Even worse, “You can’t do

maybe even learn – from the youth.

that, because it’s just not done that way.”

Taas Noo, Filipino.

Without listening and allowing participation from the youth, today’s world would be devoid of simple but useful inventions like the trampoline, ear muffs, and the popsicle.

LALAINE CHU-BENITEZ Publisher and Editor-in-Chief

And what about the TV? Can you imagine the world not

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T A L K I N G L O U D Write to us at: admin@illustrado.net or join the discussion at IIlustrado Magazine’s Facebook page

Ang pag unlad ng Pilipinas sa individual mag-uumpisa. Unang una sa family.

Kailangan ng disiplina lalo na sa mga anak, palakihin na magalang at may respeto.

Pangalawa, magsumikap hindi puro asa.

Panghuli, dapat may takot ka sa Diyos para di ka gumawa ng masama lalo sa kapwa mo. Disiplina ang kailangn para umunlad ang buhay natin, makikita mo uunlad rin tayo. ~Romy R Chavez

Usapang Illustrado The man of the hour in this month’s Usapang Illustrado, is none other than President NoyNoy, anointed son and heir of the Aquino legacy (You have to admit, at his worst, he probably does more for that family legacy than his sister, Kris.)

There are three impeachment complaints against PNoy and we just had to ask our Pinoy global community if they think PNoy should be overthrown or should we just give him a break?

Here’s what our fellow Illustrados have to say on the matter.

They don’t have really anything to throw out to PNoy. He is not corrupt so who do you want to replace him with? Binay? Good luck, Philippines! ~Eric Pol Castro He (PNoy) just needs to prove that he can handle a third-world country effectively.

If he really is a just man with a just cause, my advice for him is to ignore the mockery, and continue to do his work as he promised he would and how he promised he would. ~ Joshua Labajo

Kahit naman sino ang umupo bilang presidente hindi makukuntento ang karamihan sa mga Pinoy. Huwag natin iasa sa isang tao lang ang bansang Pilipinas.

Mas makakabuti kung magtutulungan tayo para ikauunlad ng bansa. Marami sa nakaupo kasi sa gobyerno puro satsat lang, ayaw kumilos. ~Jonathan Ocampo Dineros

I think he has been so far, the only President who has followed through and helped in giving the Philippine economy an improvement after Marcos left the country in huge debt. However, his leadership needs more grit. He has to ensure that the people in his government are doing their job. Pasaway ang mga Filipinos. Those who really want to earn and make a better future are serving the other countries whilst the lazy ones who will take whatever they could get for doing nothing are left in our country making all the noise.

Bring back Martial Law and lock these corrupt people up - forget the court hearing, so we could progress sooner! ~Anna McBride

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Impeach PNoy and then what? Didn’t we do that to Erap? Didn’t we try to do that to GMA? We threw them out or had them serve their sentence, but what? We just elected them back into lower office.

Our presidency seems to be following a distinct pattern of us electing people and then changing our mind about them. What does it say about us as a country? Like they say, the problem with political jokes is that they get elected into office.

I’m with Madame Senator Miriam on this one. Only people who pay taxes should vote. Since we have an “investment” in the government’s coffers, we are in a better position and better motivated to demand accountability from those we elect into office. ~RAPS

#Usapang lllustrado Response for the Month

Reader

For our month’s “faved” reader response, we’ll leave you with another person who made the news alongside our President.

She’s a little girl who is not officially the 100 millionth Filipino that has been born into the world.

The Philippines has more people than China per square kilometer.

Just think about that. 100 million people trying to live off meager resources and limited land. ~ Tex Bacalian

CONTRIBUTORS

ALFRED “KRIP” A. YUSON

ANA P. SANTOS

Esteemed writer Krip Yuson has coauthored travel books (among these APA Insight Guide to the Philippines and Philippines: Islands of Enchantment).

He has earned distinctions as a literary author of over 20 other books—from poetry, short stories, children’s stories, biographies, and translation. Krip has probably seen it all and in this month’s issue is proud to pass on the torch to other upcoming Filipino talents who are making a name for themselves in art and letters.

Taking on many hats is not at all unheard of for Ana who is Associate Editor of Illustrado, Rappler columnist and freelance foreign correspondent. It’s not surprising that the articles that she churns out are as diverse as the thoughts (or should they be called voices?) running around in her head. In this month’s issue, she writes about the fall of the big boys embroiled in the pork barrel scam and the Filipino women who find a bittersweet liberation in leaving their families to work abroad.

ABY YAP

IRVIN RIVERA

DIDI PATERNO-MAGPALI

Aby’s work is both satire and parody and her insight always distinctly Filipino.

Every month, Aby dishes on the funny, quirky things that one can only find in the Philippines. Only Aby can make fun of our kabayans with a sense of humor that is both biting in its familiarity but innocuous in its observation. In this issue, Aby writes about keeping up with the high-wired, uber-connected young Pinoy kids of today.

Irvin used to draw Dragon Ball Z characters until he got his first 3.2 MP Digital Camera. His love for films, art and literature inspired him to take photographs of people. Creating fashion stories and editorials evolved from his continuous learning and development of the craft. The whole production process of fashion photography challenges him to create more compelling and striking imagery through his art. Being a self-taught artist, Irvin tries his best to absorb and learn from the Masters and his contemporaries in the field of fashion photography. He loves to write, laugh and sing.

Didi Paterno-Magpali continues to enjoy her domestic life as a Overseas Filipino’s Wife, a 360-degree turn around from her corporate life as a media planner. Writing is one of the many passions that fills her days and nights, helping her further understand her identity as a Filipino, a global citizen and, most importantly, a human being.

JAKE SORIANO Jake Soriano is a freelance journalist based in the Philippines. When not writing about bogus NGOs in Manila, typhoid outbreaks in Northern Samar or human trafficking in Tawi-Tawi, he watches all types of films. He distinctly remembers, back in grade school, seeing Bulaklak sa City Jail on free TV one afternoon during a holiday. The film sparked his love for L’Aunor. His favorite Nora Aunor quote is, “Fake?”

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FRANCISCO COLAYCO If you trust someone to give you advice that person, then that person’s word must be as good as gold. Financial literacy expert and advocate Francisco Colayco has been giving financial advice to millions of Filipinos for decades now through his books, seminars and of course, through his column in Illustrado.

This month, he differentiates between a good loan and a bad loan.

Interviewing Ardy Roberto and Miriam Quiambao for her story “Of Second Chances” reinforced the truth that being successful and happy is not without struggle. After every storm is a glimmer of sunshine in the most unexpected times, places and people.

She continues to document her expat adventures at D for Delicious (http:// dfordelicious.com)

CHAMPIONING THE WORLD CLASS FILIPINO

PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Lalaine Chu-Benitez CREATIVE DIRECTOR Mon Benitez ASSOCIATE EDITOR Ana Santos COLUMNISTS Aby Yap Alfred “Krip” Yuson Bernadette Reyes Bo Sanchez Francisco Colayco CONTRIBUTING WRITERS – UAE, Mary Ann “Maps” PHILIPPINES, CANADA Santos SWITZERLAND Nephele Kirong Angela Mapa Nikka Sarthou Anna Oposa Nina Terol-Zialcita Barbara Marchadesch P.A. Escalante Candice Lopez Quimpo Princes Nedamo Dante Gagelonia Quay Evano Didi Paterno Rache Hernandez Excel Dyquianco Regina Layug-Lucero Kara Santos Mary Ann Marchadesch Sherry Tenorio Sonny Guzman CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS –UAE, PHILIPPINES & USA Eros Goze Alex Calueng Glenn Peter-Perez Cristina Linaza Dr. Marlon Pecjo Donald Rosales Raen Badua Irvin Rivera CONTRIBUTING FASHION CREW - UAE Ginno Alducente Jessie Tabla Jojo Padua PUBLISHER – UAE Illustrado Communications FZ-LLC 2nd Floor, Building 2, Dubai Media City United Arab Emirates P.O. Box 72280 Office 20C Tel: +971 4 365 4543, 365 4547 Fax: +971 4 360 4771 E-mail: admin@illustrado.net Web: illustradolife.com, illustrado.net Facebook: Illustrado Magazine Twitter: Illustrado Magazine PRINTERS Printwell Printing LLC P.O. Box 18828 Dubai, UAE STOCK IMAGES Shutterstock.com (Unless otherwise specified) Copyright Illustrado Communications FZLLC 2006 – 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Illustrado Communications FZ-LLC.

AUG 2014 30 CONTENTS

Supermodel Manuela Marie Basilio returns to Illustrado in this month’s vibrant style oevre – “In Living, Breathing Color.”

features Big Boys Don’t Cry 12 Finding Emancipation in Leaving 15 J’Adore L’Aunor 18 Of Second Chances 64

regular columns Editor’s Note 1 Talking Loud 2 Contributors 4 Illuminati: The youth as torch-bearers 6 Law: Trending Now – Responsible Use of Social Media in the UAE 10 Bayanihan: When is the best time to learn? 14 Onli in Da Pilipins: Keeping up with the Kabataang Pinoy 20 It’s What I Do 22 Money: Loans and Assets 24 Spirituality: Choices, Choices for the Youth 26 Scrapbook 28 My Pinoy Life in: Vietnam 54 10 Things to Do 59 Community: Kultura Filipino Arts Festival – Toronto 62 Illustrado Faces 66

fashion In Living, Breathing Color 30 Real Style. Real People. 50

64 54

ILLUMINATI

The youth as torch-bearers

by Krip Yuson

A compadre, fellow poet and journalist Juaniyo Arcellana, recently wrote a terrific piece for GMANews.online on the regular slam poetry competitions and open mic affairs conducted at Sev’s Café, where the kids do their thing with spoken poetry.

In his piece titled “The Kids are All Right: Poetry Slamming in Malate,” Juaniyo recalls how, starting in the 1980s, we ourselves of the “Philippine Literary Arts Council did campus tours to read out verses, wowing listeners and curious crowds of onlookers…”

Juaniyo goes on: “Just because you can hear the verse doesn’t mean the words are less occult. In fact, such vocalizing can only spread the immediacy of magic. In the bygone days there was the Sanctum in Intramuros, the bomb shelter that reverberated verses in the mid-to-late ’90s, steered mainly by the doyenne of spoken word at the time, Triccia David—whom I saw many years later in Sev’s Café off Vito Cruz, during one of its poetry slam nights, a safe zone for anyone who wanted to try out their work.

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“Crowds at Sev’s are mostly young students from the nearby universities and colleges like De La Salle--St. Benilde and UP Manila, kids who’ve discovered the therapy of indirect disclosure. If the bunch seems to be tight, don’t be fooled: many of them have just met, bonded together like desperados and doolin-Daltons for poetry. “… There’s beauty in the evenings across from CCP. The open mic beckons. The kids are all right; they’ve found a refuge in their verses at Sev’s.”

Yes, with poetry and the rest of the arts, the kids are all right. I’m glad that those early PLAC readings — at Paco Park, schools, Club Dredd in QC in the mid-to-late-’80s, the aforementioned Sanctum as well as Café Caribana and Penguin in Malate in the ’90s, and at Mag:Net on Katipunan Avenue in Q.C. for the “Happy Mondays” series in the decade of the Oughts — have somehow taken seed, and the sprouts have gone stalwart and blossomed and fruited.

At the Silliman University National Writers Workshop (SUNWW) conducted every summer for the past 53 years, the torchpassing has been so healthy. Two of our young prose writers last May immediately went on to reap an international award and a U.K. writing fellowship, respectively.

It’s particularly heartening when that creative torch is passed within the same family. Rowena Tiempo Torrevillas, the daughter of the SUNWW co-founders Dr. Edilberto Tiempo and Dr. Edith L. Tiempo (National Artist in Literature), distinguished herself by authoring books of poetry and fiction and becoming a professor in the University of Iowa, from where the Dumaguete workshop idea was adopted.

Last month, such was my prideful giddiness when The Philippine Star came out with my regular Arts & Culture column atop a page, while below it appeared a musical review by my daughter Mirava.

Many more of our poets and writers have had progeny not just following their footsteps,

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“Beneath,” a 3x4-feet oil on canvas by Camille Dela Rosa

but blazing on. Francis Macansantos and Priscilla Supnet Macansantos of Baguio City are increasingly proud of their daughter Monica’s accomplishments as a creative writing scholar in the USA. Often, too, the creativity genes easily cross art genres. Melissa Nolledo, whose dad Wilfrido D. Nolledo had novels published in the U.S., is an outstanding photographer.

Poet and novelist Erwin E. Castillo has a son, Diego, who’s made a name for himself as no less than a rock star. Poet-writer Edgardo Maranan’s own son Diego is a New Media artist-researcher pursuing a PhD as a Marie Curie Research Fellow at Plymouth University in the U.K. — working on the fascinating field of Cognitive Innovation (“the development of new forms of participatory mobile sound environments and musical instruments, based on dynamic interactions within a biologically inspired mobile object-network”). Wow.

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“Emperatriz,” a 4x3-feet oil on canvas by Camille Dela Rosa

Thirty-one-year-old Camille Dela Rosa has had 19 solo shows since she started out at 16 as a colorist in the Impressionist mold, painting gardens and other landscapes, then old churches. Five years ago, she took a large leap into surrealism. Skulls and innards and strange configurations figured in her startling works. Of late she’s moved on again, to something still fantastic, but putting her technical dexterity to effective use with her meta-medieval portraits of women — or what she calls Renaissance surrealism. Camille is the youngest daughter of the popular impressionistic painter Ibarra Dela Rosa.

In film, National Artist Eddie Romero is followed by son Joey as a director of note, while indie pioneer Kidlat Tahimik a.k.a.

Eric de Guia has all three sons — Kidlat, Kawayan and Kabunian de Guia — making their mark in the arts scene.

Closer to home, Juaniyo himself is the youngest son of National Artist for Literature Franz Arcellana. Then I have a couple of sons who’ve proven themselves as worthy musicians: Aya the guitaristcomposer who has a couple of CD albums, and the much younger Alaric, better known as “Anygma,” the founder and leading light of Fliptop, the first and hugely populat rap battle league in our country. He gets invited to international rap battles, where he exercises the battle-rap kind of poetry — with its own riveting sense of rhythm and rhyme.

Yes, our youth are doing all right, especially in our arts scene. It’s just as it should be, given evolution. In fact they’re infinitely more terrific, as they should be, than the generation/s they received the torch from.

ILLUMINATI

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LAW

Trending Now:

Responsible Use of Social Media Atty. Barney Almazar highlights the legal risks of using social media in the UAE.

The success of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media sites has led to exciting ways for people to interact and communicate with each other. According to Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), Twitter has around 360,000 users in the UAE who share around 2.5 million tweets per day.

Just recently, a number of Twitter and Facebook accounts have been closed down by authorities following complaints of abuse. The TRA has launched a series of Social Media White Papers designed specifically to highlight the terms and conditions of the major social networks in use in the UAE such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Yahoo/Flickr,

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LinkedIn, Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, Apple Store, Blackberry and Keek. Given the pervasive nature of social media, the online community should educate themselves in order to ensure that they comply with existing laws and regulations.

Facebook Rules Facebook has around one billion users worldwide. In UAE, the gender breakdown of Facebook users is 69% male and 31% female.

The laws of the UAE prohibit the publication of content which is contrary to public morals, the principles of Islam and the

social and moral welfare of the UAE or any content that is offended for a nation or its government.

According to TRA, Facebook users should be aware of the following: # Do not tag other users without their consent. The UAE law contains broad provisions relating to the protection of privacy and reputation. # You should not share your password or otherwise do anything that might jeopardize the security of your account. # Facebook has broad rights to use the content which users post, and the right to use them in any way it wants.

LAW

Twitter Rules Before making any tweets and hashtags in the microblogging social site, take note of the following rules from TRA: # Do not publish content that is contrary to public morals, the principles of Islam and the social and moral welfare of the UAE or any content that contains irreverence towards Islam or other religions. # Respect the UAE government, its leadership, political institutions and ultimately the UAE’s cultural heritage and social norms and customs. # You must not publish direct, specific threats of violence against others. This also includes hate speeches, and content that is threatening or contains graphic or gratuitous violence. # You should think carefully about the content you are posting. You are responsible for the content you post. You should bear this in mind if you are posting content which you do not own or which contains material that is subject to someone else’s rights. # You must not publish other people’s private information without their consent.

Cyber Crimes Law Federal Law No. 5 of 2012 on combating cybercrimes considers any deliberate expression which insults or afflicts the dignity or honor of a person a punishable offense.

Article 21 provides for a punishment of imprisonment of at least six months and/ or a fine of AED150,000 to AED500,000 to whoever uses a computer network or and electronic information system or any information technology means for the invasion of privacy of another person in other than the cases allowed by the law and by any of the following ways:

A stiffer penalty of at least one year imprisonment and/or a fine not less than AED250,00 is imposed to whoever uses an electronic information system or any information technology means for amending or processing a record, photo or scene for the purpose of defamation of or offending another person or for attacking or invading his privacy.

1. Eavesdropping, interception, recording, transferring, transmitting or disclosure of conversations or communications, or audio or visual materials.

Invasion of Privacy

2. Photographing others or creating, transferring, disclosing, copying or saving electronic photos.

3. Publishing news, electronic photos or photographs, scenes, comments, statements or information even if true and correct.

Defamation The Penal Code as well as the Cyber Crimes Law prohibit insulting others, or attributing to them conduct that would make them the subject of the contempt. As provided for in Article 21 above, it is not essential that the statement be false in order for it to be considered defamatory. Even if the author can prove the truthfulness of posts on social media, he may still face civil or criminal liability should the content include secret information or photographs without the consent of the subject.

Disclosing secrets or information pertaining to a person’s private life, without his consent, is punishable under the Penal Code and the Cyber Crimes Law. These would include unauthorized disclosure of information concerning the private lives of the complainants, or the unauthorized release of proprietary information.

Photographs The Penal Code considers it an offense to transmit someone’s photograph without his consent. Pursuant to the intellectual property rights laws, a person who takes a picture of another cannot distribute or publish the same without the consent of the person appearing in such picture.

Social media users should not just be techie but also be savvy about avoiding cybercrime by respecting each other’s privacy and reputation in the online community.

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FEATURE

Ana P. Santos

We all heard Mama (and Papa) tell both us girls and boys: Big. Boys. Don’t. Cry. Misty eyes and droplets of water on the face – with the exception of sweat –are not fit for the macho macho man who is supposed to tough it out or suck it up. But if you’re a former, washed out-has been-action star or worse, the son of a former over-the-hill action star, rules don’t seem to apply and the closest you can get to sucking it up is taking in your gut when you flaunt your innocence. But if you are a nonagenarian, you can flash your “old age” card which apparently, also functions as a “get out of jail free” card.

No, no, big boys don’t cry—they just think of alternative self-defense measures if they’ve been accused of feeling up and emptying out the cookie jar.

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Take Bong Revilla, Jr. , namesake of faded action hero and a favored baby daddy of his day, for example. Maybe he knows he’ll never be able to beat Daddy’s baby daddy record so he goes to set his own record: allegedly scooping out Php242 million of taxpayer money, the most of any legislator.

He held a press conference at his ancestral home and then had a motorcade escort him and his family to his surrender. But wait, that’s shortening a long story. He first stopped by a Church where a special mass was organized, scheduled and paid for (by our taxes) for him. Of course, his motorcade was howling a song sung by…who else?

You. Why would anyone hear it or bother to listen to it if you didn’t have it blaring along our national highways.

He gave the requisite interviews and smiled for the camera—those of the news crews

and supposedly his own movie outfit.

Of course, for posterity’s sake he had to have all of them filmed. If he is convicted, he will have to find a way to make money by peddling a film based on this national drama?

This big boy even find it in himself to joke about using his time in prison wisely—by working out to make sure “pogi pa din ako paglabas ko.”

He gamely posed for his mug shot as if it were his Facebook profile picture.

A smile that slowly turns to O-shaped lips shocked by a prison cell that is – horror of horrors – cramped! And there is no airconditioning!

This is detention, honey. Not a vacation. It’ll probably take awhile for you to wrap your brain around that, but at least while you’re

FEATURE

in there, you’ll have time to ponder the difference between the two. Good luck.

Then there is Jinggoy Estrada…wait, what is it with the scions of former action stars and the inclination to line their pockets with other people’s money? Jinggoy and Bong are cut from the same cloth of babydaddy-action-stars who believe they are like bamboo: they can penetrate -- or plant themselves in fertile soil that is hospitable.

With action flicks holding no more excitement for Filipino viewers, these guntoting bandits were left without any other skill except well, gun-toting and “acting”.

Jinggy didn’t have a motorcade or anything of that sort, but he did go kicking and screaming denying that he swiped PHP183 million from the national coffers.

First, he blew the lid off another supposed scam: the Disbursement Acceleration Program or the DAP. If he was going down, he was sure as hell going to bring the Palace down with you. Or at least try his damnedest.

He learned from his dad who was ousted from public office in a tumultuous way.

When he did surrender, he made it a family affair. His parents, wife and all the kids went with him to Camp Crame and immediately after, his lawyers filed for a motion of bail, even if plunder is a non-bailable offense.

Of course, big boys like Bong and Jinggoy can’t be locked up without a steady supply of food. It would simply be inhumane to go without food and suffer the same fate as the millions of Filipinos who have to face hunger everyday. The very same Filipinos whom they are supposed to serve.

So their legions make sure they are wellfed with bilao after bilao of pancit and hey, is that a lechon we read there somewhere?

You make camp Crame look like a fiesta.

Lastly, there is the grand meister of them all. Johnny Ponce Enrile whose name has been woven into Philippine politics from Martial Law, to People Power, all the way to this current maudlin vaudeville that we have for a senate and congress.

He who allegedly only took a swig of PHP172 million of his pork barrel funds, went the quietest of them all, probably tempered by age. He is 90 after all and as

Filipino, his days are supposedly numbered and the road to meet their Maker is paved with our taxes. Makes you wonder if Gigi Reyes was contracted to oversee this road construction or how far she would ahem, bend over backwards to please her boss.

He went the most peaceful of them all, in a crisp white barong that matched his shiny white SUV. Later, he slipped out from an eye exam and later still was offered a different room in a hospital. No cramped single bed for the architect of Martial Law, the turncoat who helped usher in People Power and is old enough to have a hand in every major political hierarchy that ruled the country.

Oh you big boys, you don’t cry. You rant, complain and whine. You do it shamelessly with that same sense of entitlement and air of impunity that got you where you are now. The bigger and older you are, the harder you kick and louder you yell foul.

But let’s wait and see. As the law of Physics say, the bigger (and older you are), the harder you fall.

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BAYANIHAN

By Ambassador Grace Relucio-Princesa

I

t’s a question I ask myself when it comes to the topic of financial literacy.

As my kababayans and other readers may know, financial education is one of the legacies I want to leave behind to the OFWs (Overseas Filipinos Worldwide Wonders) here. Having been in the United Arab Emirates for almost five years now, I have observed that financial illiteracy and indebtedness are one of the leading causes of OFWs getting into trouble, even incarcerated for not paying credit cards and bank loans.

I remember the remark of a Filipinos I spoke to in Iraq after the US-Iraq War of 2003. “Ma’am, mamatay na po kami sa bomba o bala, huwag lang dilat ang mata.”

Translated, it means: we would rather die with bombs and bullets instead of hunger typified with open eyes. It made me think deeply and led me to study the phenomenon of Filipinos choosing danger when confronted with crisis reintegration.

This same mindset now resonates in the strife torn areas of Libya, Iraq, and Syria.

Some of the Filipino labor migrants seem to have chosen to live with danger than take advantage of the free mandatory

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repatriation offered by our government.

It appears the reason is economic and connected to a lack-of-savings mentality.

According to some observations, only 20 % of Filipinos save, 80% percent do not.

With the NGO Atikha (which means untiunting makapagpundar or slowly save), I have launched the Pinoy WISE (World Wide Initiative for Investment Savings and Entrepreneurship) Movement. This is done in cooperation with the Bayanihan (collective heroism for a common cause) Council , the umbrella organization of OFW associations in Abu Dhabi. The Philippine Consulate in Dubai, along with the Filipino organizations in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, are also on board. Abu Dhabi Pinoy WISE Seminar workshops are usually held every third Friday of the month from 9 am to 6 pm. The usual fee is AED 30 dirhams for lunch and two snacks. Sometimes there are sponsors. The training team and training materials are free. Some participants have observed that this intervention might be too late. Still, as the saying goes, better late than never. A study is now being conducted on how attitudes about money have changed after this pioneering movement which has been rolled out not just for the OFWS in the United Arab Emirates but

also in Italy, Qatar and Germany. Soon, Hong Kong and Singapore will start the seminar –workshops. In the Philippines, the Movement has started Batangas, Cavite, Laguna. Future provinces that will join are Cebu, Bohol and Tarlac.

Now, to go back to my original question: when is the best time or age to start? A common agreed upon age is from 12 years old or as soon as our kids start getting allowances.

Atikha’s Executive Director Estrella “ Mai “ Anonuevo agrees. She has already piloted a migration related curriculum in some select OFW origin provinces to teach children. I hope to start this module here in the UAE. Brother Bo Sanchez seems to validate this conclusion. He is now offering a Truly Rich Seminar for kids ranging from 12 to 19 years of age. He also says that only a Philippines peopled with employers, not just employees can propel us to greater heights.

As for me, I have come to the conclusion that we should get a financial education as early as we can and thus, maximize our financial blessings.

FEATURE

Ana P. Santos

Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- The word of the day is “emancipation” defined as deliverance, independence and a sort of liberation.

Biting her lower lip in concentration, Mayra Velonza - Ignacio scribbles furiously, repeating parts of the definition under her breath as if to etch it in her memory and not just in her notebook. She underlines the word for good measure.

“Every week we have a new word to memorize,” the 39-year old explains. “We’re encouraged to practice using the word in sentences so we familiarize ourselves with its meaning and use it in our in daily life.”

It is Friday in Dubai and on this day in April, the sun is warm and welcoming, adding a sheen to the glitter and shimmer of this Middle Eastern oasis.

It is almost a shame to spend an Arabian night like this indoors, cooped up in a conference room with about 30 other people, a mix of mostly Filipinos and Indians, a sampling of the guest workers

who make up bulk of the city’s population.

But this is how Mayra chooses to spend many of her Fridays – her only day off – sharpening her communication skills with other members of the public speaking organization, Toastmasters International.

At today’s meeting, Mayra is the Timer.

At the end of a member’s display of oratory capability through the delivery of a prepared speech, she stands up to summarize the speech and announce the time each speaker took, noting if he went over the limit.

The word “emancipation” has special significance for Mayra.

“I never dreamed I could do this before. I really really hated the idea of speaking in front of a lot of people,” she stresses shaking a bit, the thought clearly still terrifying her.

“And you have to speak in English! Diyos ko po.” [My God.] Not only has Mayra mustered up the courage to speak in front of a group of people, she

has also began dabbling in public speaking and writing her own speeches.

“My mentors here told me to write about something familiar and the words would flow,” explains Mayra about her first speech.

So she wrote about Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman, Wonder Mom Mayra shares a copy of her speech with me; it makes me sad and hopeful at the same time.

“I know every woman wishes to be a WONDER WOMAN for her family, especially her kids.

We were very poor. As a mother, I did not want to see my kids suffering and enduring the same hardship we did growing up. I did not want to just sit in a corner and cry. So I decided to work abroad. Leaving my three little kids behind was painful. My heart swelled and my tears fell hard, but I needed to do this.”

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FEATURE

Mayra Velonza - Ignacio

You don’t need extraordinary powers to be a wonder woman or wonder man. Your unconditional love for your family and children is all the power you need. This is Mayra Velonza, a small wonder mom.”

Drawing an analogy between Wonder Woman and motherhood has been done by thousands of working mothers who juggle the pressures of a full time job and the demands of parenthood. But to the thousands of OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker) women, being a working mother commands another kind of superpower: the strength of will to leave their families behind and be denied the usual comfort afforded a working mom--coming home to her children at the end of each day.

First the men, now the women Four decades after the Philippine government first launched its statesponsored migration program, the Middle East remains the top destination country for Filipino guest workers.

In the 70s and 80s, Filipino men were the poster boys of labor migration working in desert oil rigs and construction sites. The slowdown of the building frenzy gave way to the demand for domestic labor in the 90s, creating employment vacancies that needed to be filled by women.

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The 2013 Country Migration Report estimates that some 8 million Filipinos have participated in the overseas employment program since the 70s.

Women now make up almost 50 percent of the OFW work force; majority work in households as domestics or caregivers.

In the UAE, where the Philippine Embassy estimates about 100,000 work as household workers, there is a particular preference for the Filipino nanny.

“The Filipino nanny can speak and understand English (better than others).

This is number one because she and her employer can communicate. She can receive and carry out instructions about the baby,” said Shaukat Ali, owner of an employment agency in Dubai.

Filipino nannies are also known for the love and care they give their wards, which Marla Asis, a researcher at the Scalabrini Migration Center says “is usually a transfer of love and affection that she cannot give her child”.

“Working as a nanny requires emotional investment. It compounds the guilt for many mothers because it reminds them of what they left behind,” adds Asis.

Abroad: Another place, another life For many Filipinos, “abroad” is not just a place, it is another life. Abroad is both an escape and a solution to a life where poverty has killed hope and deadened the capacity to dream.

For Mayra, it was the only way out.

When her sister, Nida, invited her to go to Dubai on a visit visa to look for work as a domestic worker, she accepted, despite the objections of her husband.

“He has no dreams. When I told him about my plans to go abroad, he told me: Why do you have to leave? What for? We’re all going to die anyway.”

But Mayra had dreams. They were, by any measure, simple ones: an education and nice clothes and shoes for her children. They are a mother’s minimum aspirations, but they represented opportunity and a chance to have a better life than the one she and her brothers and sisters had.

Currently, seven of the Velonza sisters work in Dubai as domestic workers. The other six siblings are in the Philippines taking care of their parents and the children who have been left behind.

In her eight years in Dubai, Mayra has worked for various expats earning more than she ever could farming under the

FEATURE

Most of her Fridays off, she is at selfimprovement classes like this one at Toastmasters International.

At Filipino Digerati, a volunteer teaching organization, she took basic computer courses like Microsoft Word, Powerpoint and Photoshop. Later on, she took Photography. She now knows how to use the computer, a skill which is handy both in her role as nanny and mother.

She teaches her ward in Dubai and when her youngest from the Philippines texts her to ask for help with homework, she can easily Google the answer and give a quick reply.

“The Internet connection in Pangasinan is slow and intermittent,” she explains.

“Thank god for SMS. I text the answer and she thinks I’m really smart.”

Mayra can still perform a semblance of her motherly duty thanks to the wonders of technology but physical presence and expressions affection are limited to vacations to the Philippines every one or two years.

“They’re growing up without me.

Sometimes it feels like I’m just their relative and not their mother.”

It is one of the many trade offs that she has learned to accept.

“I don’t think I could have learned this before in the Philippines. First of all, where would I get the money for these classes?” she asks in Filipino.

Even with enrollment costs at a minimum, equipment needed to practice a new craft cost money. With her salary, Mayra is able to send home money to the Philippines and still have a little left over for herself. Mayra now has an SLR and a small laptop. She

mostly uses the camera to take pictures on the trips she takes with her sisters while the laptop is used to keep in touch with her kids on Facebook.

“When I go home for good to the Philippines, I will use the skills I’ve learned to open up a one-stop events shop where we can offer balloon making and photography for parties and special occasions.”

When she speaks of the future, Mayra talks of eventualities rather than possibilities, of careful plans rather than desperate pleas thrown to fate.

The word of the day is “emancipation” -- a word that Mayra has already begun applying to her daily life.

This story was produced with the support of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting under the Persephone Miel fellowship.

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FEATURE

by Jake Soriano

The face of Nora Aunor is an enchanting thing. The human face belongs to the sphere of sight; it is there primarily to be seen. The face of Aunor is something else. Her face bleeds beyond the visual into such spheres as feeling, taste, technique, texture, text and context. If the commonplace human

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face is surface, the face of Aunor is at once surface and depth. It is both outside and inside, managing to carry both expression and emotion.

In the climactic scene of Condemned, a film by the great director Mario O’Hara, Aunor’s

character Yolly’s once-guiltless face turns hard. All the cruelties her body, soul and heart endured in the course of the film are embodied by this transformation of the face. Turning stone-cold, her face becomes that of someone ready for the settling of scores. Her foe, Gloria Romero’s regal

FEATURE

A still from the film “In Thy Womb”

criminal, does not stand a chance. In Bakit Bughaw ang Langit?, another great O’Hara film, the face of her Babette fills with what seems like shame when she accidentally sees naked Dennis Roldan’s mentally handicapped Bobby. The physicality of her turning away from him, her swiftly closing the door, suggests shame, but one sees in her face that this is shame laced with hardly-repressible desire. Even her heavily made-up and contorting face in Elwood Perez’ Ang Totoong Buhay ni Pacita M, a face venturing so close to kabuki, succeeds beyond camp into the realm of the real, the relatable and the urgent.

The face of Nora Aunor, curiously though, is not an enigma. What her face always has is clarity, even with its vast layers of meanings and elaborations, its complexities and contradictions. The face of Aunor knows many languages of feeling and speaks every last one of them fluently, but these articulations never sound foreign to her audience. Her every expression and emotion always carry the key to their decoding. The audience always understands her characters.

How does a wife and daughter feel when she discovers that her husband is cheating on her with her mother and has gotten her mother pregnant? One finds out from the face of Aunor in Ina Ka ng Anak Mo, which was directed by Lino Brocka (fellow great

A still from the film “Hustisiya”

artist Lolita Rodriguez plays her mother).

What goes through the mind of a nun who tries to make sense of her complex feelings for the convent gardener, feelings that go against her vow? And what if this man is Satan himself? One finds out from the face of Aunor in the Gerry de Leon-directed section of the omnibus Fe, Esperanza, Caridad.

Gosiengfiao’s Huwag Hamakin! Hostess, maliciously opaque in Bernal’s Himala, calm and accepting in the final moments of Gil Portes’ Andrea, Paano ba ang Maging Isang Ina?, childlike and genuinely joyful while playing with her scarecrows in Joel Lamangan’s Sidhi. That one face can contain all these, and so much more, is a testament to her otherworldly skills.

The face of Nora Aunor has a specter-like ability to still loom large even when she is scarcely present in a film.

The face of Nora Aunor, then, is an entire universe.

Very close to the end of Ishmael Bernal’s Tisoy! she suddenly appears and breaks Charo Santos’ heart by charming away Christopher de Leon. The funniest and best part of Danny Zialcita’s Tinimbang ang Langit is her cameo, less than a minute long, as herself mentioning another Zialcita movie she stars in, T-Bird at Ako. And although she is not in the film, a fan’s obsession with her in O’Hara’s Babae sa Bubungang Lata comes to stand for a melancholy meditation on love for cinema, and is itself a good summary of Pinoy cinephilia.

The face of Nora Aunor defies reason. It is singular in the plurality of its characters and in its limitless range.

It should be more appropriate to say faces, except all these faces belong to one person only: clueless throughout Joey

It is true that this remarkable brilliance does not excuse the frailties of her person.

But the inverse is also true. Her failings do not diminish the brilliance of her art. “The test of a first-rate intelligence,” wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald, “is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” The art of Nora Aunor, with its clear distillation of life, tasks us to be of this first-rate intelligence. The closest her art comes to a moral lesson is the subtle reminder that we may arrive at easy answers through the easy oppositions of good versus evil, but these answers are always wrong. When we put ourselves together, fully human, we are simultaneously saints and sinners.

The face of Nora Aunor is more than just the face of a great artist. The face of Nora Aunor is art itself.

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ONLI IN THE PILIPINS

Keeping Up with the Kabataang Pinoy

By ABY YAP

Kids nowadays, they’re <insert full-length critique with matching iling here>. Admit it, grown-ups, you always get in the ganito-kami-noon-bakit-ganito-kayongayon mode. And that’s totally unfair (even if what they’re listening to now is really trashy)! You were also young once. You never missed That’s Entertainment’s Saturday edition because you were rooting for the Wednesday group to win. After all, you were a trueblue SherNick fan.

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So, in the spirit of fairness and goodwill to all generations, let’s give the bagets of this era the chance to enjoy their youth to the hilt by understanding their language and lifestyle (and basically where all these eccentricities are coming from). YOLO.

ONLI IN THE PILIPINS

• Books Who says the young ones no longer read?

They do, too. On Wattpad. An online community for writers, it’s where they get an overdose of KathNiel (Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla, hello!) fan fiction— thousands and thousands of it—which we all hope they’ll discover an antidote for when they grow older and, hence, wiser.

For now, let them read/watch She’s Dating the Gangster.

• Check In Parents, calm down. Your teenagers aren’t going to the Shhh! place and ruin your respectable name in society. They just want to announce to the world through social media sites that they’re everywhere hanging out with their popular buddies— it doesn’t matter if it’s at Starbucks or at Star’s Sari-Sari Store. This way, you (and potential kidnappers) would know where to find them.

• Diary Just because the young ones don’t walk around with hardbound journals complete with heavy padlocks doesn’t mean they’ve got no secrets to write about. Why keep them when they can spill them on Facebook, right? So, they notify us the minute they wake up, what they eat every meal, who they want to kill, how they plan to spend each day of their lives, etc.

• DJ He’s not the mister playing love songs you requested. Please don’t commit that grave mistake ever again. To the youth of this country, he’s no other than Daniel John Ford Padilla, whose mere existence can make girls weep tears of joy. He’s an actor,

endorser, mosh pit concert prince, double platinum record artist, heartthrob, and all you want him to be. Nasa kanya na ang lahat.

• #Hashtag From #medyobadboy, we now go to their lingo. Apparently, it’s no longer enough to utter a syllable or type in a word to start a conversation; # is vital for a trending topic that everyone can participate in. An Outfit Of The Day/Night snapshot that’s flaunt-worthy deserves #ootd or #ootn.

For those who love to take a stroll down memory lane, there’s #throwbackthursday, #waybackwednesday, or #flashbackfriday.

How they differ from each other is another #topic.

• Library Here’s a fact that could make you pretty envious: your children would never have to deal with yellowish handwritten/ typewritten catalog cards, a grumpy librarian, century-old cobwebs, and musty pages just to unearth that info needed for their homework. All they have to do is Google and a library springs to life right from their desktop/laptop/tablet/phone!

Warn them about the evils of Wikipedia, though.

• Must-have Remember the goma collection you wore on your wrists for your afternoon luksong lubid sessions with the neighborhood kids? Yes, the flimsy rubber bands that were used to bundle the veggies your mom brought home from the market! Innovation has intervened and we now have brightly colored loom bands, the must-have accessory for any fashionable teenager. Even the Pope wears not one but two bracelets.

• News Who wants to read the newspaper from front to back or watch Mike Enriquez do his “Excuse me po!” moment? Definitely not today’s youth. They’re too busy for these things. For real-time nuggets of news about the pork barrel issue, PBB All In’s shocking revelations, game scores, class suspensions, and their friends’ tragic breakups, there’s always the reliable Twitter.

• One Direction While they light up your teenyboppers’ world like nobody else, they must have made your wallet lighter, too, because of their outrageous March 2015 concert ticket prices. Poor you, spending Php18,000 for a single VIP ticket is <okay, release your anger here>! The CBCP won’t love you for what you did, but in the eyes of One Directioners and Real Directioners, you’re way too beautiful.

• Selfie Face it. Your kids’ faces are all over Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and even Friendster if it was still alive to this day—and you can’t stop it, especially with the advent of that ingenious device called The Monopod. So, be prepared to see pictures of them doing the Peace Sign at a wake or the Pouty Lips with their friends during a storm on your Timeline (after filters are applied, of course).

Crazy things do happen, particularly when you’re young. Case in point: Pope Francis having group selfies with the faithful.

You didn’t see it coming, did you? And His Holiness is even a grown-up; a rock star nonetheless. #alamna

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IT’S WHAT I DO

It’s what I do

FILIPINO PROGRESS AND DIVERSITY AT THE WORK PLACE

Daniel Francis Maningas Network Engineer-PHD Network Solutions, UAE

Daniel Francis Maningas works as a network engineer for PHD Network Solutions UAE. To perform his job, he has to get his hands dirty, and probably his body, too.

“I deal with wireless devices, network switches, cabling and configuration of network devices,” he explains.

He spends most of his day crawling on all fours to reach inaccessible places to connect a cable link. The upside though is his “connections” take him to the most prestigious places like the JW Marriott Marquis.

His biggest dream is to have a project in the tallest of the them all – the Burj Khalifa, but Daniel is confident that this will come soon enough.

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It’s not just the swanky places that Daniel likes about his job.

Daniel says the work enabled him to visit the six emirates and he is now looking forward to visiting Fujairah for the seventh.

“My job involves being in the field, where you have to drive long roads and bask in the sun,” says Daniel.

For Daniel, the most important thing is to complete his work, effectively and gracefully at that. Daniel emphasizes that by doing the job right, you know you are going to be well-equipped for anything: moving up the corporate ladder, your next employer or to set up your own business.

IT’S WHAT I DO

It’s what I do

FILIPINO PROGRESS AND DIVERSITY AT THE WORK PLACE

Michelle Mingi Quality Surveyor-Khasaheb Civil Eng. LLC Engineer Michelle Mingi currently works as quantity surveyor at the roads and infrastructure division of Khansaheb Civil Engineering LLC, one of the oldest construction companies in UAE. As quantity surveyor, she is responsible for project control, monitoring and technical coordination. She also conducts regular site visits to assess the progress of each project.

Michelle joined the company in the middle of a challenging construction market. Luckily for her, she was among the first applicants at the interview site and as the saying goes, the early

bird catches the worm, or in this case, the position as the only female engineer in her team. “Now three years and counting, our team continues to contribute positive values to the business even through tough economic circumstances,” says Michelle.

Michelle’s message for her fellow Filipinos is that while it is true that the OFW’s remittances propel the growth of the Philippine economy, “It is our unwavering faith and courage to face any challenge in order to provide for our loved ones that make us true heroes. Let us always strive to be the best in whatever we do and show to the world the exemplary qualities of the Filipino.”

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MONEY

Loans and assets by francisco J. colayco

W

While there are many ladies who need personal f i n a n c i a l education, there are also some who have already taken it upon themselves to be educated. One such lady is Ms. CD who wrote this very email.

“I visited your website and was happy to see that you allow email questions. I have bought and read your two books and even gave my teenage sister your workbook for as a birthday

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present. I believe your books can truly change our lives if we follow it religiously.

I am a manager in a department store and my husband is an OFW in the Middle East.

He was recently granted a loan equivalent to Php500,000 with an interest rate of 10%per annum. It was supposed to be our payment for the second hand car that we have been planning to buy a long time ago, though we already have an owner type jeep we use, since commuting is quite difficult in our place. My husband has been dreaming of this

vehicle for a long time.

My question is: Just in case I can persuade my husband to invest his loan into something else other than buying a new car, what would be the best investment tool? Of course, the investment should have a reasonable income to pay for the interest. I’m not much of a risk taker which is also why I’m quite nervous to take immediate action without asking first.

MONEY

This is my reply to Ms. CD: Thank you for writing and we are happy that you have started your personal financial education.

As you would have read in my books, a loan is good only if it will help bring money into your pocket. This means that if the second hand car you are planning to buy will not really reduce your transportation expenses since you already have an owner type jeep, then perhaps the second hand car will only bring out money for your amortization and interest expense.

But if you can use your second hand car to create a business to bring income, then perhaps, you are on the right track. Just be careful about your analysis of your real costs and maintenance.

You are also right to use the loan only for an investment that will cover the interest of your loan and also give you more income.

You will always have to pay for your loan, no matter what happens to your investment.

An investment with risks has to be assessed carefully. Today, it is very difficult to earn

10% per annum on an investment without risks.

should just be aware of the above relevant considerations in your future decisions.

In fact, the interest on time deposits is very low at only slightly over 2-3% per annum.

Do you already have your own home? If not, perhaps, you could use the loan as a start to buy your own home? If yes, perhaps, there are repairs to be done that will improve the value of your home or reduce the maintenance expenses of your home and thus, put money into your pocket.

Though your husband earns in foreign exchange, your loan in a foreign currency was converted to pesos and the conversion rate should also be taken into consideration.

The reason for this is that the money will be used in local currency and should be repaid with the same local currency. For example, if you converted when the exchange rate was say, Php44:US$1.00 and the rate is only Php43 by the time you pay back the loan, then you would have made some money on the conversion. The reverse is also possible and you could lose money on the conversion. The point here is that by borrowing in foreign currency for use in pesos, you actually run the risk of paying a higher cost of money should the peso depreciate further. This foreign exchange risk in your case is somewhat mitigated because your husband earns in the same foreign currency you borrowed. But since you have already drawn the loan, you

As an added note, inflation, fortunately, is not a very big factor at this time as the inflation rate is relatively low and is expected to be fairly stable in the forseeable future.

I hope this information is helpful to you and we hope you can reach your goal of having wealth within your reach. Pera mo, palaguin mo.

Check out www.colaycofoundation.com or when in Manila, call 6373731 or 41 for more information.

You can also join our KskCoop. Check out www.kskcoop.com.

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SPIRITUALITY

By BO SANCHEZ

Today, in spite of the high technology, gadgets, apps, not to mention the overload of information ready for them to google, the youth still need inspiration to direct them to what they can become.

be a drummer. So he included in his daily schedule one hour of playing the drums.

He bought a drum set, downloaded drum lessons from the Internet, and for one hour each day, our ears were tortured to death.

But what we can do is provide the youth an environment where they can eventually become the persons – not what we want them to be—but what God has purposed them to be.

Although we have tons of how-tos, parents, educators, and we, preachers, can only provide the youth examples, models we hope and pray they will emulate.

So will Bene ultimately turn out to be a rock star?

That’s the reason we have been deliberately making The Feast, the faith gathering I lead at the Philippine International Convention Center every Sunday, appeal to the young.

Worship is lively-- yes, almost like a rock concert. Holy Mass is presided by priests so light with sense of humor, if not altogether wacky. And talks that are like sitcoms, more than fiery, repent-or-be-damned preaching from a pulpit.

As I’ve said in previous articles, my wife, Marowe, and I homeschool our children Bene and Francis—the best way we believe they can turn into the persons we hope them to be.

Will he not follow the footsteps of his father— be a preacher, author, entrepreneur?

Will he ever become a priest like my mother hoped and prayed I would become?

But still like anyone else, our children will make their choices in life—on their own.

Or will he simply be, bottom line, the responsible, caring son and brother, productive citizen, and God-loving as his mother prays for every day?

Early this year, my son Bene wanted to

I really can’t tell.

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And so, the last time we counted, we noted that 75% of our attendees are the youth.

SPIRITUALITY

We have in our midst God’s young people— like lambs we need to shepherd.

How do we go about this sensitive task? I don’t have to go very far to find out what works. There’s my own experience. By God’s grace I began my vocation when I was 12 as my parents provided the environment where I would grow to be a preacher—going to Mass, attending prayer meetings and Bible studies, and serving the less fortunate in charitable institutions.

And so, I’ve endeavored to provide that kind of environment to young people in our faith community.

Atually, we start them young—very young, as in when they are 4-12 years old. At The Feast we have a children’s ministry we call Awesome Kids. As their parents attend The Feast, we gather the kids to a separate room where our Awesome Kids Ministry servants teach the topic in The Feast that day in a fun way.

Yes, we named the ministry Awesome because that’s what we want to impress upon the kids-- that children of God are awesome, and He means for them to grow as awesome adults.

Then, we guide them to level up to the next ministry—the Youth High, we call it— for high school students ages 12-16. They aren’t kids anymore, but hey, from among this group, we have spotted youth with leadership potentials. And so we are not wasting a second to develop them into the people God has meant them to be.

From Youth High, the children graduate to Youth College—yes, college students, aged 16-23, the most crucial period in one’s life.

We attract the youth through a summer adventure we call Camp Calye or Camp Street, where they learn that loving God, serving Him and their fellowmen are as cool as any gig there is.

men. We pinpoint those with leadership potentials among them and we conduct leadership seminars for them. Through various retreats or recollections, we encourage them to discern their calling in life.

We are especially on the lookout for those who can be leaders of our community— those who can continue fulfilling our mission.

And for those who eventually discern that they have a calling to be preachers, we have a special development program to guide them toward realizing their dream—God’s dream for them. We call this group of men The Radicals, for indeed they are making a radical choice, taking the road less traveled.

Indeed, we choose what we can become, where we want to go. Let’s endeavor to give the best of possible choices to the youth of the world.

Now, we also have two ministries for singles—one for the ladies and one for the

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SCRAPBOOK

Butch Delatina DUBAI

Butch Delatina is an editorial and commercial photographer, specializing in people and fashion photography with a style consisting of colorful and energetic imagery. Running a client-friendly, service-oriented business he believes that great creativity often is the result of team effort.

Butch combines his background as a computer engineer with his photography, creating modern, lifestyle images of people. His clients include ad agencies, magazines, publishing companies, celebrities, non-profit organizations and events companies.

When not photographing, Butch likes to go to the gym to keep him fit through bodybuilding, yoga sessions, fitness and dance classes.

A showcase of his work can be found on www. butchworx.com.

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SCRAPBOOK

Edwin C. Mendoza Dubai

Edwin is a hobbyist and freelance photographer working as an expeditor in an oil and gas company.

“My passion in photography started in 2009.

Since then, I have continuously practiced. I find it interesting taking street photos during my travels to different countries. I like watching people and seeing later on what aspect of their lives, their culture my camera captured.”

Edwin has done several portrait and fashion shoots for Filipino designers based in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

He takes pride in capturing beauty beyond what others cannot see.

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FASHION

IN LIVING, BREATHING COLOR ILLUSTRADO 32

FASHION

PHOTOGRAPHER/ CREATIVE DIRECTOR: IRVIN RIVERA MODEL: MANUELA BASILIO STYLING: ADRIAN DE AUSEN JENNA ENNS MAKE-UP: ADA TRINH HAIRSTYLIST: NICOLE BELLOWS PHOTOGRAPHY ASST: DARWIN ABAD MAKE-UP ASST: KRISTIN FORGY & JENNY KEY HAIR ASST: KRISTEN DONDERO FILM: MANUEL QUINTANILLA ILLUSTRATIONS: RAXENNE MANIQUIZ PRODUCTION: JOE ADAMS, VIA JIMENEZ

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FASHION

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FASHION Green halter top - Kristine Amarillo Pink plastic vest - Luvgen by Malcolm Bacani Yellow belt - Topshop, White skirt - Mossee Purple shoes - Bella Vita

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FASHION Red peplum dress - Kristine Amarillo Purple straight pants - Ralph Lauren Yellow-striped pumps - Nine West

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FASHION

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FASHION Multi-colored dress - Tube Gallery Yellow hat - Topshop Black pumps - Steve Madden

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FASHION Marble-patterned dress Puey Quinones Yellow-striped pumps Nine Wesy

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FASHION White tube top - Kristine Amarillo Pink capri pants - Alfred Dunner Platform heels - Penny Loves Kenny Multi-colored peplum skirt used as scarf Kristine Amarillo Bracelets - Icelink Jewelry- Stylists Archives

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FASHION

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FASHION Blue dress with feathers For the Stars Fashion House White trousers - Zara Pink flipflops For the Stars Fashion House

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FASHION Yellow vinyl dress - Dar Sara Green shoes - Pleaser USA

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FASHION Snake skin sequin dress - Yen AB Printed jacket Luvgen by Malcolm Bacani Red scarf as arm accessory Kristine Amarillo

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FASHION Purple dress - Kristine Amarillo Yellow printed top wrapped on waist - Topshop

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FASHION

Green sequin gown Rocky Gathercole White transparent jacket Faubourg Du Temple

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FASHION Purple dress - Albert Andrada Yellow flip flops - For The Stars Fashion House

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FASHION

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FASHION Studded Full bodysuit Coat Ensemble- Ezra Santos

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FASHION Bodysuit- Ezra Santos

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FASHION Red Dress Furne One Blue skirt on shoulder Kristine Amarillo

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REAL STYLE. REAL PEOPLE. We’ve scoured the WWW for some of the best looks from Filipino fashionistas from all over the world!

Here are our picks for the month!

Abu-Dhabi street-styler and blogger BUTCH CERVANTES does bright and cheerful in these vibrant prints.

Pinoy+ Swedish CECILIA PETERSEN looks oh-so-cute in these dainty frocks. See more of her at - lookbook.nu/cissipe

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REAL STYLE. REAL PEOPLE.

Self-confessed shoe magpie and edgy gal, COOKIE BUHAIN of deathbyplatforms.blogspot.ae says she is not over summer yet and it’s obvious in these easy breezy dresses.

Houston, Texas-based NATHAN BARRERAS is one guy who’s not afraid to wear atypical colors.

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REAL STYLE. REAL PEOPLE.

Pretty Faith Rodriguez, a style blogger from Dubai, makes motherhood look good in these gorgeous maxi frocks! See more of her style at thelookbureau.com

The Prince of Print! Twenty five year old JAYE SANTOS knows how to make the most of the T by wearing only the ones with uber cool prints! Follow him at zirjayesantos.tk

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REAL STYLE. REAL PEOPLE.

MARC PATRIELLE BUENO of the www.thebuenofashionisto.com makes the most of the cool Canadian summer in these layered ensembles.

SHAI LAGARDE, Manila-based fashionista, rocks floral and tribal motiffs to the max!

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PINOY PLANET

My Pinoy Life In

DA NANG CITY, VIETNAM - APRIL 30, 2014 - The Dragon bridge.

Photo by: Hoang Cong Thanh@shutterstock.com

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PINOY PLANET

DANANG VIETNAM

Arturo Poblete Jr. and his family.

I first came to Vietnam in July 2005 to set up and assist the country director of Les Gants Vietnam. My ability to speak in Vietnameses and Japanese were a plus for me as I officially served as the Japanese and Vietnamese interpreter of the company. Eventually, I became the director for Les Gants Vietnam in 2006; a post I held on to till 2010.

I live in Danang City, Vietnam, the third largest city in Vietnam located in the central part of the country. Danang City has a long coast line and, as you can imagine, beautiful beaches and many ancient ruins that reflect the Chinese influence on the country. During the Vietnam War, the US military had a large presence here and you can still

see the American presence today in the structures that they built. Danang is in the center of famous places here in Vietnam; it is near to both Hue City and Hoi An, an ancient city province of Quang nam. I think I can compare Danang City to Cebu City, both are ideal places to go on vacation because of its pristine beaches and friendly people.

Fil community in SEA neighbor I guess like many parts of the world, Danang City has a Pinoy community.

There are probably 200 of us, most of whom are engineers, English teachers and professional hoteliers. There are also some entertainers. In our case here, we

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PINOY PLANET

Danang Hoi An Chinese Buddhist temple Photo by: John Copland@shutterstock.com

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PINOY PLANET

An elderly woman carries inflated tractor tyres on the beach in Danang Photo by: Philip Date@shutterstock.com

always meet on Sundays at the Saint Peter, Cathedral. We have 2 Filipino priests here.

Self-learning and self-awakening I learned something about myself when I moved to Vietnam. I was a very picky eater when I was in the Philippines. I don’t try food that I am not familiar with, but moving here, I learned to eat vegetarian food three times a week due to the Buddhist practice of not eating

The Han River Bridge in Danang is a cable-stayed bridge that is lit up brightly at night.

Photo by: Jimmy Tran@shutterstock.com

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PINOY PLANET

meat and non-salty foods. I’ve even learned how to ride a motorcycle; it is the best form of transportation going to work or anywhere near or far.

BANA HILLS RESORT-Tourists enjoy nice castles on top Ba Na Hills on their holiday.

Photo by: Hoang Cong Thanh@shutterstock.com

To my fellow Pinoys around the world, kahit saan na-iiba ang Pinoy. Show them why we Filipinos are in demand in every industry.

Mabuhay po tayong lahat!

Asphalt road is constructed to cable cabs station at Bana Hills.

Photo by: netsuthep@shutterstock.com

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10 THINGS TO DO Things may have slowed down this summer, but the city continues to sizzle. From the mid-summer shopping sale to the upcoming Lady Gaga concert, Dubai is quite the place to be this season.

1 2 4 3

Make way for surprises

From August 2 to September 5, the annual Dubai Summer Surprises is returning to heat things up on the retail front. Since it was launched in 1998, the festival has become one of the highlights of the city’s summer with GCC residents and tourists looking for bargains in over 6,000 stores.

Welcome Angry Birds at Modhesh World

The gaming phenomenon that took the world by surprise is now a huge attraction at the region’s biggest edutainment center, Modhesh World. Get ready to jump into the world of Angry Birds and play a life-sized version of the game’s various challenges.

With a multitude of zones aimed at fun and education, the Angry Birds zone at Modhesh World is a one-of-a-kind spectacle for the whole family. Angry Birds at Modhesh World will be hosted at Dubai World Trade Centre until September 8.

Go Gaga for Lady Gaga

We can’t believe this is really happening, but it is! On the 10th of September at the Meydan Racecourse, Lady Gaga will be in Dubai for the first time to sing her hits like “Poker Face”, “Just Dance”, “Born This Way” and “Bad Romance.” The one-night only concert is part of the pop sensation’s fourth world tour, ArtRave: The ArtPop Ball Tour.

Don’t miss the match

On September 5, witness reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) intercontinental super bantam weight champion and WBO Asia Pacific “Fighter of the Year” Genesis “Azukal” Servania defend his belt against the Mexican former twotime world title challenger Jose “Matador” Cabrera.

Catch it at the Dubai World Trade Center Zabeel 3.

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10 THINGS TO DO

Get a gold facial

6

The city buzzes with a thriving spa scene, and that means the type of treatments usually reserved for Hollywood stars often find their way into our part of the world. This season, why not go for gold? A gold facial, that is. Kaya Skin Clinic offers a gold facial, but you can also look around for chocolate, diamond and caviar treatments.

Attend a boot camp

57 You may think that summer is almost over, and it’s too late to start shaping up. It’s never too late to go for that bikini body. A boot camp is what you need to kick start a new fitness regimen. Here in Dubai, you’ll find a number of boot campers at The Beach in Jumeirah Beach Residence stretching, jogging and lifting their way to weight loss.

Contact Original Fitness Co. at 043116571 for more information.

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Visit the wildlife in Ras Al Khor It is not known by many that in the middle of the bustling city lies one of the world’s few UNESCO-protected wildlife sites. The Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary, which lies between the towering Burj Khalifa and the stretching The Meydan Hotel, is a 620-hectare site which is home to more than 20,000 birds and 67 different species in the winter months.

Ready your zoom lens, pack up a picnic and spend a rare afternoon of tranquility communing with nature. It’s open from Saturday to Thursday, 9am-4pm. For more information, call 04-6066822.

8

10 THINGS TO DO

Upgrade your cinema pass

Upgrade to the business class of cinema seats. It may add a premium to your usual cinema budget but the idea of bigger, plusher, recliner seats (often with additional buttons for playing with during long car chases), an exclusive menu, waiter service and, a little bit more privacy will surely be worth it. For more information, call Gold Class at Vox Cinema in Mall of the Emirates at 04-3414222.

10 Swim with the dolphins

Drink tea with friends

9

Summer wouldn’t be complete without going for a swim. But take yours to a whole new level of swimming experience. Book a session with the dolphins in the Dubai Dolphinarium. These sociable and highly spirited animals will keep you engaged and excited as you flip across the pool for about 20 minutes or so. For more information, contact Dubai Dolphinarium at 04-3369773.

Get swept up in the afternoon tea craze. In a city sizzling with summer sun, it’s a good midday fun alternative. Started by the British nobility during the 19th century, afternoon teas are now enjoyed by many in various cafes and hotel lounges. Here in Dubai, you can have afternoon tea amidst towering racks of delicious hot buttered scones and fingersized sandwiches, and a staggering range of teas. Vogue Café in Dubai Mall is a must try as well as the afternoon tea at Al Qasr Hotel.

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COMMUNITY

Colored by thoughts of home, and rooted in the celebration of Filipino culture and identity, the 9th KULTURA Filipino Arts Festival by the Kapisanan Philippine Centre for Arts and Culture is ready to show Toronto what the legacy of home has produced in terms of cuisine, live music, and art.

For nine consecutive years, KULTURA has created a platform for Filipinos in Canada to showcase their art. Whether ‘home’ is Canada or the Philippines, Filipinos are bound by the influences of both countries. The interplay between the rich cultural heritage of the Philippines and the multicultural landscape of Toronto is reflected in the cuisine, visual and performance art, and live music produced by local and international ‘Homebound’ Pinoys at the 9th annual KULTURA Filipino Arts Festival that ran from August 7 to August 10, 2014.

KULTURA Filipino Arts Festival and Philippine Airlines brought audiences to the

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capital of the Philippines, Manila without leaving Toronto, with Carlos Celdran -- a notable cultural activist and performing artist. Celdran made a stop in Toronto this summer before heading to New York City for the off-Broadway debut performance of his piece “Livin’ La Vida Imelda”, which he first mounted on stage presented by KAPISANAN in Toronto in 2011.

Celdran, dubbed “The Pied Piper of Manila,” came back to perform his world-famous walking tour of Intramuros, titled If These Walls Could Talk. Kensington Market and Artscape Wychwood Barns’ grounds starred as Intramuros, the walled capital city of Spanish colonial-era Philippines.

Celdran’s walking tour is described by “Celdran’s artistic, irreverent, and wildly entertaining brand of nation-building through his performative historical tours of Manila is relevant not only to the broader audience looking for a new cultural experience, but also to young FilipinoCanadians searching for their roots, and

Filipino immigrants yearning for a familiar story from home,” says Kapisanan Executive Director, Caroline Mangosing.

Kain Kalye: Filipino Street Eats Competition returned in full force for its third year at KULTURA. This year’s street food festival will highlight Filipino regional cuisine; in a nation with 17 regions and 80 provinces, the possibilities are as endless as they are tasty! Toronto’s best Filipino restaurants and chefs went headto-head with their interpretations of regional Philippine roadside cuisine in Kain Kalye, allowing Toronto to experience firsthand the reasons why Philippine cuisine has been hailed by celebrated chefs like Andrew Zimmern and Minibar’s José Andrés.

“With its many influences—Malaysian, Polynesian, Hispanic, Chinese, American— the variety of flavors and techniques that you find in Filipino cooking is exceptionally rich,” Andrés says.

COMMUNITY

With over 2,000 festival-goers sampling traditional and fusion Filipino street food at KULTURA 2013, Torontonians sampled and tasted some of the country’s best interpretations of traditional Filipino street food.

The vibrant KULTURA Live! Stage also came back with another year of Original Pilipino Music (OPM) with Maylee Todd (2013 SoCAN Songwriter Award nominee), August Rigo (Producer/Songwriter for One Direction, usher), Hooded Fang (Polaris Prize Nominee), DATU, a modern tribal music crew (2014 Soundclash Music Award Nominee), and Philippine heritage performers, Fiesta Filipina Dance Troupe of Toronto - who recently celebrated their 45th year of sharing their unique take on Philippine folk arts to Canada and the world.

KULTURA Filipino Arts Festival was presented by KAPISANAN Philippine Centre for Arts and Culture.

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FEATURE

Of Second Chances:

Ardy Roberto & Miriam Quiambao

By Didi Paterno-Magpali PhotoGRAPHY BY: Nice Print

It was March 25, 2014 in Tagaytay.

The cool air buzzed with sparkles, stars and well-wishes for one of the ultimate displays of second chances. On that mountain, second chances were granted to both Ardy Roberto and Miriam Quiambao, as they were joined as husband and wife on that day.

They were both wed for the second time.

They both lost love and found it...again.

as she turned depressed and even suicidal.

After the divorce, she packed her bags and returned home in an attempt to pick up the pieces she left behind.

The failed marriage was not just the cherry on top of her cake. Miriam was scammed by a trusted friend and lost her life savings, worth millions of pesos. It was the lowest point of her life.

HIS STORY HER STORY Miriam Quiambao had just barely bagged the Miss Universe title in 1999. Her stumble down the Miss Universe stage did not stop her. In fact, it was her claim to fame, which launched a successful showbiz career as a talk and reality game show host. And at the peak of her career, Miriam fell in love, married and left everything behind to join her then husband in Hong Kong.

But the marriage did not work out. It took a turn for the worst, leaving Miriam shattered

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In January of 2013, Ardy Roberto was mourning the death of Tingting, his S’wato, short for “Sweet Potato”, the love of his life, wife and mother of only son Joshua. Tingtin had lost a 12-year battle to Lupus, a chronic inflammatory disease.

Letting go of 17 years of marriage and 5 years of going steady wasn’t easy; it meant days, weeks and months waking up and sleeping without her. Ardy, attempting to become that pillar of strength for their son, grieved behind closed doors.

Once, during the usual drive to work, realizing that the passenger seat, where Tingting used to sit, was empty and never to be filled again. Ardy cried uncontrollably, entertaining thoughts of driving 120 km per hour off the Skyway ramps to join his S’wato in heaven.

Daily prayers with Joshua kept Ardy teetering on his feet.

One day, Ardy woke up from his grief. “God spoke to my heart. He assured me that I would love again and that He would give me one more great love”.

And in April 2013, on his birthday, his son declared a fortuitous wish for his dad: that God give him a new wife.

Incidentally, a week and a half before his birthday, he already met that woman, whom God intended to be his new life partner.

FEATURE

THEIR STORY Miriam was one of Ardy’s students in a workshop for aspiring book authors regularly hosted the writer-entrepreneur.

Ardy needed her advice on some of his real estate investments, but before jumping into the main agenda, he asked her how she was able to cope with her divorce, which he likened to his loss. Their meeting ended in prayer to bless Miriam’s meetings and presentations that afternoon as well as to bless each one’s journey to find love again.

Both agreed that they weren’t attracted to each other. “He’s too Pinoy,” said Miriam, who has always preferred mestizo guys.

“She’s too tall,” said Ardy, who had to stretch his neck and tiptoe to beso Miriam.

But there was one thing that drew them to each other: their love of God. Both devout Christians, they both wanted to be with a partner who put God front, left, right and center.

Miriam shared, “After 4 years (of) being single and focused on The Lord, I was praying for a Godly husband. I asked for The Lord to choose the man for me and orchestrate situations, so that I will identify His chosen best for me.”

“You know, on our first date, I practically proposed to Miriam. When I shared my intention to get to know her better, I was looking at marrying her,” Ardy recalled.

“I thought 3 months was too soon but when he proposed for the second time and The Lord gave me a wedding date, I knew that it was God’s appointed time,” Miriam says.

“My heart healed quickly. I never thought that it was too soon, although looking back now, I am amazed at how fast things worked out,” said Ardy.

HOPE FOR SECOND CHANCES

Miriam had doubts, but these were washed away with Ardy’s clear intentions “When he laid down his intentions and revealed his character to me, I was slowly attracted to him. I convinced even more.”

“I’ve pledged to court Miriam for the rest of her life.” Ardy promised. And so far, he has kept his promise starting with a series of “honeymoons” in the US, Thailand, Spain, France and around the Philippines.

Ardy was then in cloud nine, super kilig, the very first time Miriam told him that she loved him too as she “proceeded to snuggle her nose on (his) neck.”

“It took a while for me to recover from the trauma of my failed marriage and now I feel truly blessed that The Lord has given me another chance at love,” said Miriam.

On October 6, 2013, after three months of being in a relationship, Ardy and son Joshua surprised Miriam with a first official marriage proposal.

Each day is not just another one, but rather an opportunity to stumbled into love... again and again and again.

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ILLUSTRADO FACES ILLUSTRADO

FACES B AT C H 7 Sponsored by:

PEOPLE’S CHOICE Emkhaye Ampig

by JM Araneta

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ILLUSTRADO FACES ILLUSTRADO

FACES B AT C H 7 Sponsored by:

ILLUSTRADO’S CHOICE Suyen Anne Vergara

by Rodel San Jose

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ILLUSTRADO FACES

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Arlie Villarmia

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Arnold by Wahid Jaafar

Bem Casava Silwani

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by Jennifer Del Rio

Cath Balza

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Janvee Ramirez Yambot

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Jennifer Sabino

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Jhon Maurice

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Krishel Talavera

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Michelle Atienza

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Romylene Julian Ibay

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Peachy Vales

by Cezar Vales Jr.

Ronalie Reyes

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ON THE PROWL, IN THE KNOW

By Ion Gonzaga - Dubai Over dinner with friends, while talking

The concept of this new blog is to share my ideas and experiences: the happiness, inspiration, fulfilment as well as struggles, challenges and lessons of becoming a new Dad. Being in a new Dad and living in Dubai are similar because they are both challenging.

Dubai, as we all know, is very different from the environment we grew up in as kids.

Here, no kids play on the streets. Play areas are in the parks, which has both advantages and disadvantages. Amusement theme parks are indoors.

about random things, they asked of nowhere, “Why not do a Daddy blog?”

And so I am starting #dadedidubai, a blog about parenting from a Dad’s perspective.

I am not a parenting expert and definitely not a perfect Dad. I am just like any other dad who enjoys being one.

By Kristine Abante - Dubai This summer, thanks to the kindness of certain friends, I found love. Unexpected, unconditional, irrepressible love at first sight, too. His name is Yuki, (Japanese for Snow). He is a 1-year old adorable snowball of a Persian cat.

He was rescued by my DJ friend, Jane, who belongs to Bin Kitty Collective, an informal group of individuals helping abandoned kitties in the UAE find loving homes.

Jane rescued Yuki from a harsh life in the streets of Abu Dhabi where his original owners left him wandering. As to why they would do such a thing to a sweet, beautiful, (and obviously expensive) creature escapes reason.

See, I have never--in my 30ish years-ever had a pet. Not for a lack of wanting, but mostly for a lack of space and fear of responsibility. Truth be told, I have

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Raising kids here comes with a lot of questions like: how will the kids play outdoors, where are the best kid-friendly places or restaurants to eat, who’s the best doctor, which nursery school is best for my kid, and so much more. #dadedidubaiwill help us all find answers to these questions.

Readers may find value in some of my insights. Some may pick up the lessons from our experiences. Some may get ideas from the recommendations I will share.

Some may disagree and give me counter advice. The possibilities are endless, really.

The children are indeed our future. The way we raise them will define if that future is bright or not. That’s why for me, being a parent is one of the best opportunities to shape the future of this world.

So here I go. I, a father to a 2-year old girl, am launching www.dadedidubai.com.

Come join me on my journey of being a parent.

Follow Ion Gonzaga - http://www.boydubai. com/ or on Twitter @ionGonzaga

With help from my wife, I will also try to look back at how we used to do things “back in the day” to preparing to become parents today.

always wanted a cat. Despite the many arguments about dogs being more loyal, more intelligent and generally more loving, I have always loved the mystery of felines and I somehow always prefer something (or someone) who is not so clingy and dogeager.

Actually, this could be the reason why I am a single lady living with a cat, but I digress.

Yuki came home with me one hot summer day and everything changed--for both of us. It didn’t take him long to get settled in.

Perhaps only too grateful to have found a good home at last, he slept.

He peacefully curled up in my bed that first night while I was left thinking: so this must be how newborn parents or newlyweds feel. You know that precarious moment when you realize you have just signed up for a lifetime commitment and there is no turning back. It’s a scary thought. But you know what? I think I can finally do it.

For those interested in adopting/fostering

cats or dogs, there are plenty of them waiting to find loving homes. Check out the Bin Kitty Collective or K9 Friends https://www.facebook.com/ groups/188028987947593/?ref=ts&fref=ts https://www.facebook.com/pages/K9Friends-Dubai/135431973890?fref=ts Follow Kristine on www.band-aid-blues. blogspot.com

ON THE PROWL, IN THE KNOW

By Leslie Fiestan - Riyadh

Honestly, I’m scared to do things on my own. So I decided to go to a place that I was already familiar with and knew at least one or two locals to contact. For the rest of the journey, I was pretty much on my own.

There are dangers, but as long as you’re smart enough to know which places you should and shouldn’t go, then there should be no problem.

Have you ever wanted to travel, but couldn’t find a buddy to tag along? I’ve had that problem for a long time and have contemplated on traveling by myself for just as long.

The problem was my fear of being alone in a foreign land. I did not know where to start and had no idea about the place I was going to.

I decided to conquer my fears, but I didn’t dare go out in the great unknown without making sure that I was well prepared.

First and foremost, determine your budget.

Second, scout around for budget friendly hotels and promotional airfares. Oh, and don’t forget to check if you need a visa to travel to that country and factor that into your travel budget. Filipino citizens can now go to 62 countries visa free.

I was told of a website intended for travelers called www.couchsurfing.com. I found it useful if you want to make friends with locals and save money on accommodations.

Of course, as a woman travelling alone, you must take the necessary precautions. Check the reviews of previous guests and try to choose a couchsurfing host who has had the

first few months of being together, posed as the best man you’ve ever met.

A couple of months later, he starts to show his less desirable side. You start to feel like you’ve been robbed of your happy ever after. Then as problems come, you discover that This One wasn’t really that concerned about you at all. When he tells you to do whatever you want and he says he won’t mind, what he really means is that you mind your own business and not meddle in his.

By Rian Miranda – Riyadh Once upon a time, we had our heart broken by partners whom we thought were The One. The One who, when you began dating, made you feel like you’ve won the lottery among millions who are trying to take a chance on love. The One who during the

You glossed over the fine print when you should have looked closely to what you were getting yourself into. But now you don’t know how to get out because you’re already in too deep. Your knight in shining armor is actually Peter Pan, who only comes when it’s time to have fun.

My fellow ladies, especially the younger generation, please try to hold off as much as you can before giving everything that you have to a man.

most experience hosting.

When it comes to cheap airfare and hotel, the search engine I rely on is www.wego. com. They show the cheapest rates for both flights and hotels.

Always have a backup plan, a map and enough cash. Keep the number of someone to call in case of emergency, like your hotel, your embassy, police or tourist help line handy. Study the country’s culture and follow the rules.

You have to find the courage and discover things on your own. At times, it can be a lonely ride. Call it soul searching, scratching your itch for adventure or crossing off a destination on your bucket list--whatever your reason, there’s really nothing like the feeling of being free.

A fair warning though, travelling can become an addiction.

Follow Les - http://lesfiestan.multiply.com/, http://lesfiestan.daportfolio.com/

to see beyond the gifts, the fancy car(s), expensive food trips, and his six-figure paycheck.

All men will want to impress you to gain your confidence. But a real man will be proud to have you by his side and will show you off all the time. A real man who wants a commitment is open to compromise. He will be flexible and will pay attention to details in every aspect of your relationship.

I repeat, every aspect of your relationship— no matter how foolish it may seem. It is important for him that he cares not only for your feelings but your pride as a woman as well.

Love is an investment, so make sure the assets can outweigh the liabilities and the relationship value will always appreciate over time.

Follow Rian - Instagram: msrianmiranda, Youtube: www.youtube.com/rianmiranda

It is wonderful to fall in love, but it is also right to look after your heart and dignity.

You just have to be very patient and vigilant

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